On Tuesday 10 December, to mark International Human Rights Day, Greens/EFA MEP Mélissa Camara (French), together with the feminist international solidarity NGO Equipop, co-organised the launch of a report at the European Parliament entitled ‘How to build a feminist Europe? The challenges posed by the far right in the wake of the European elections’. This document analyses political developments in the European Union following last June’s elections and proposes solutions to preserve fundamental rights threatened by the rise of the far right.
During the meeting, the representation of ultraconservative MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), which rose from 8% to 28% between 2014 and 2024, caused a stir.
“These parties share a reactionary vision, opposed to the rights of women and LGBTQIA+ people, and seek to maintain patriarchal norms”, said Lucie Daniel, Advocacy Manager at Equipop.
The report also shows that these parties use women’s rights to promote xenophobic discourse, a strategy denounced by Mélissa Camara, who spoke to Agence Europe. Arguing in favour of exposing ideological strategies and maintaining a strict “cordon sanitaire”, the MEP highlighted the outspoken attitude of the far right within the European Parliament, where certain debates reveal “obsessions”: “migration”, “same-sex-parent families” or “transgender women”, often accompanied by outrageous figures and discriminatory language.
In light of these findings, the report proposes a series of actions. The aim is to secure funding for gender equality, to ensure that the gender issue remains central to European policies and to strengthen alliances between institutions and civil society in order to overcome institutional blockages.
The report also criticises the new College of Commissioners, where, according to Mélissa Camara, worrying signs are accumulating: “When you don't give a full portfolio to Equality, it’s a signal. When you give a vice-presidency to Raffaele Fitto (...), when you want to entrust health, and therefore reproductive health, to Várhelyi, that’s a signal (...)”. She deplores the fact that “for the EPP, the issue of gender equality and minority rights is not a priority”.
According to the MEP, the group’s weakness lies in its inability to establish clear and solid coalitions, which has led it to form ad hoc alliances with the far right on sensitive issues, thereby reinforcing setbacks on fundamental rights.
The role of the media was also singled out. “There has been no media coverage of women’s rights during the European campaign, even though these issues are crucial for the EU”, added the MEP, calling for a more independent and balanced press capable of countering disinformation.
Despite these problems, Mélissa Camara remains confident in the ability of progressive forces to take action: “If civil society, progressive parliamentarians and activists get organised, set their agenda and lead the cultural battle, we can win. This event shows that it is possible to defend our rights and advance equality”.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/eqr (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)